Children and teenagers benefit hugely from being online, but they can also be targets of crime and exploitation as in any other environment. Child safety online is listed as one of the main priorities in the Digital Agenda for Europe, but some fear that excessive censorship and data control will result in infringements on civil liberties. Leading ICT journalist, Jennifer Baker, met Pirate Party MEP, Christian Engström, to discuss the protection of children in relation to individual freedoms on the internet.

“We want the same laws, and in particular the same fundamental rights, applied on the internet as in the rest of society.”

Interview conducted in light of the Citizen’s Controversy event, “Children and the Internet: What Trade-off Between Freedom and Safety” organized by the Madariaga-College of Europe Foundation on 31 January.